Aadhaar data breach: HC seeks Centre’s response on damages sought

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to file response on the plea seeking exemplary damages for the losses caused due to leakage of Aadhaar data.

A bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice AK Chawla asked the Centre and UIDAI to file a response within six weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on November 19.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Shamnad Basheer through advocate Siddharth Aggarwal alleging that the dissemination of personal information of Aadhaar holders made it clear that government is responsible for any breach of right to informational privacy.

The petitioner has said his constitutional rights have been breached due to the negligence of UIDAI.

Citing top court's judgement, the petitioner said that when the state violates the constitutional rights of a citizen, courts may award compensation.

He also said that his petition is very different from the other proceedings in the Supreme Court as he is seeking claim to damages due to breach of data.

Basheer has also requested the court to appoint an independent committee comprising multiple experts to investigate the scope, extent of breaches and the magnitude of harm caused due to data leak.

He has also sought direction to release information on the number of data breaches which have taken place since the inception of the Aadhaar scheme and the steps taken by the government towards remedying and rectifying their security practices after the breaches.